Wheel / Tire / Suspension ideas -- 335i E92 ZSP

Spring is coming, and I cannot wait to remove my winter tires.

I'm needing some ideas for a new set on my coupe.

I love the HRE P40 type wheels, but they are out of my budget -- so I'm comparing the reps; VMR V710's, Avant Garde M310 and similar. I'm liking the idea of matte black - I think it'd work well with my alpine white E92, as so many have before.

For tires, I'm quite set on Nitto NT05, owing to great reviews on-line and from somebody at work. They look perfect for mixed summer street/track use.

So -- what kind of sizes & offsets are tried and true for my car? I want the tires to be as flush as possible with the fenders, but don't want to roll them. Any ideas? Do I need to drop the car by going with 19" wheels instead of 18"?

I don't really want to spend more than $3,000 - $3,500 on the whole wheel/tire/suspension. I can get most wheels/tires and parts at cost, since I work in the industry (but am still clueless LOL).

Staying with 18s could well be a possibility .. I actually like my stock 189's so much I'm even considering buying a second set (one winter / one summer). With the sport package, it sits just the way I like it.

I've also seen my car with black 19" style 199 rims (it's what it had on in the showroom, but I had them remove since they wanted over $4,500!). They looked great too.

My biggest thing is that I want the ass-end of the car to look a bit more aggressive, but I guess I could accomplish that with spacers.

Personally I would shop for used rims. I am sure you could find a decent used set with tires for a good price. I ran 19" Nitto Nt05s on my M3 and they were a nice tire. Spacers will also give you that flush look that it sounds like you are after. You might have to mess with different sizes to get it just right.

I'd only buy used rims if they were in great condition, but unfortunately, locally the choice is very limited. Being in Canada sucks lots because we always have to pay hefty shipping & import fees/taxes on purchases from the US (even used items).

As for tires - I'd only ever buy new.

I think I'll end up with something VMR-esque, but wish I could see a comparison of 18's and 19's on my car! I don't need to have the best rims in the world, just something that looks half decent. My budget doesn't include mounting/balancing/alignment, since I can get that virtually free...

Wheels are totally subjective, but I know I started looking at the ~1000'ish wheels and ended up a few times that, but I don't regret it for a second, so that's totally on you. Suspension however, I can comment on. Please don't go with KW or the other low budget 'coilovers'. If you are just looking for an adjustable drop, get air bags. If you want that with some performance there are some standby names such as TC Klein, Ground Control, etc. Most of the systems are going to be based on variants (custom) of the Koni Yellow shock with their own springs. Matt@CamberToe can get you a good deal on Koni Yellows (Single Adjustable, which is all us recreational road course people need imho) with the excellent Swift springs for a fair price.